Artist of the Week
The Jack Straw Artist of the Week Podcast highlights work created through the Artist Residency Programs at Jack Straw Cultural Center.-
Randal Bays - The Traveller's Return / Josie O'Neill's
Randal Bays‘s new album Trad and True, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program, is a collection of Irish traditional music and original tunes, recorded in Ireland and the US over the last few years with contributions from Susan Waters, fiddle; Willie Bays, flute; Owen Bays, concertina; Geraldine Cotter, piano; Mick Kinsella, harmonica; Clint Dye, guitar; and John Coyne, bouzouki.
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Sheila Bristow and Ellaina Lewis - The Want of You
“The Want of You” is from a new song cycle based on the poetry of Harlem Renaissance writer Angelina Weld Grimké by composer/pianist Sheila Bristow and soprano Ellaina Lewis, recorded through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program. On November 21st at Jack Straw, Sheila and Ellaina will perform the songs and discuss the joys and challenges of being the voice of a historical person and a historical period. The evening’s music will also include other music by Sheila, including Six Preludes on a Theme for solo piano, which she recorded at Jack Straw in 2022.
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Suchitra Iyer - Mazhe Mazhe
Suchitra Iyer’s album Sunaad, produced through her artist residency at Jack Straw, is a collection of Hindustani classical compositions by Indian-American composers from the Pacific Northwest. The album reflects the nurturing community of classical music practitioners who have created a space for shared learning and growth. The songs showcase different aspects of North Indian music, from lyrical to percussive to devotional.
Inspired by these mentors, Suchitra composed the music for a piece of poetry by 14th century female poet Soyrabai. In “Mazhe Mazhe,” the poet urges us to remove ourselves from the illusion of the world and stop pursuing material success. Suchitra is accompanied by Manoj Deshpande on tabla (drums) and Deepashri Joglekar on harmonium (keys). Sunaad is available on all major streaming services: https://linktr.ee/suchitraiyermusic
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Bun-Ching Lam - Another Spring
Bun-Ching Lam produced the album Mountain Clear Water Remote through her 1995 Jack Straw Artist Support Program residency. The album was performed with the New Performance Group: John Weller, violin; Ella Marie Gray, violin; Melissa Hamilton, viola; Walter Gray, cello; Paul Taub, alto flute, piccolo; Matthew Kocmieroski, percussion; Thomasa Eckert, piano; and Bun-Ching Lam, piano
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Trío Guadalevín - Presente Estoy
Trío Guadalevín’s project El Noroeste – produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program – is a musical exploration of the historic presence of Latinos in what is now Washington State. Serving all who want to learn more about the Pacific Northwest, it is a necessary project to acknowledge a legacy of more than two centuries, storied with contributions to the social and economic fabric of the Northwest. Inspired years ago as an effort to address omissions in the public understanding of Latinos’ role in this region, it has become a critical effort in an era of intentional misrepresentation, unfounded stereotypes, and cultural/racial intimidation.
Explore the videos, which feature the peoples and places that tell the story, and read a detailed account of the project at https://www.guadalevin.com/elnoroeste.
“Presente Estoy” – “I am here!” – addresses the 21st century challenges and promise of Latine communities in Washington, who live in and contribute to the economic and social well-being of every county in the state. Despite its contributions, this community continues to face discrepancies in education, employment, housing, and health. The population also endures persistent stereotypes, inflamed by an increase in dehumanizing anti-immigrant and anti-Latino rhetoric in popular media. This anthemic song centers on the dignity of peoples whose stories connect hard work, family, cultural tradition, and social innovation.
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Gabriela Denise Frank - How to Live on a Damaged Planet
This week we feature one of the poems Gabriela Denise Frank recorded at Jack Straw as part of her 2025 Artist Support Program project, producing recordings of poems that will appear in installations and public-facing venues. “How to Live on a Damaged Planet” is a cento. Gabriela writes, “I chose this form, which involves stitching together borrowed lines of poetry, because it speaks to the fractured and chimeric nature of our planet and the creatures (humans and more-than-human) who are struggling to adapt to a world disrupted by climate change.”
“How to Live on a Damaged Planet” is made from lines from the two introductions to Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet, edited by Anna Tsing, Heather Swanson, Elaine Gan, and Nils Bubandt.
The art for this episode is a collage by the artist, titled “Persephone.” For Gabriela, “The analog process of working by hand—cutting images and shapes, pushing elements around on the page, letting them talk to each other and move several times before anything permanent happens—is essential to my approach. For me, mixed media collage is a physical ecotone of exchange between archetypes, symbols, synchronicities, the hand, the mind, the subconscious, and the collective unconscious: an [im]possibility space where creatures and forms that have no earthly business with each other can meet, interact, and react to reveal truths about “reality” more accurately than realism can. The remixed nature of collage reflects the hybridity of the world we live in.”
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loscil - Ryou-Un Maru
In its original form, Jack Straw Artist Scott Morgan (aka loscil)’s project Adrift is a collection of 4 pieces of endless music presented as a mobile application. The application uses structured random selection to continuously play the discrete musical components with no beginning or end. The pieces were conceived as aural backdrops, seascapes of sound in which the listener is encouraged to drift in and out of. Each of the four pieces is named after an infamous ghost ship.
As of 2025 the app is no longer functional. This piece comes from a collection of four linear renders of the music from the Adrift application, representing a singular version of each of the pieces. You can hear and download the whole collection via Bandcamp.
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Till the Teeth New Media Gallery Podcast
Jack Straw artists Jonathan Rodriguez and Sandesh Nagaraj of Till the Teeth talk with Carlos Nieto about their Jack Straw New Media Gallery installation we being so.
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Carolyn Graye - Secret Festival: September Moon
“Secret Festival: September Moon” is from singer/pianist/composer Carolyn Graye‘s album Poems by Denise Levertov, a collection of the poet’s works set to improvised music. The album was produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
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Laura Luna Castillo New Media Gallery Podcast
Jack Straw artist Laura Luna Castillo talks with Carlos Nieto about her Jack Straw New Media Gallery installation Onix y Marmol.
